1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to schedulers and, more specifically, to creating and modifying graphical schedules which are associated with devices that are controlled by a programmable multimedia controller.
2. Background Information
In recent years, both commercial and home automation solutions have advanced rapidly in terms of features and capabilities while falling in price. Prior solutions that required extensive custom programming and expensive, proprietary touchpanels for user input devices have been challenged and displaced by new solutions with open application programming interfaces and inexpensive user input devices such as multi-touch smartphones and tablets.
As automation solutions have advanced and evolved, so too have the number and variety of devices that users may own and wish to integrate into an automation solution. As more devices having increasingly diverse features and functionalities become available, a problem has arisen: how to reliably instruct an automation system to perform desired functions or take certain actions at desired times. Stated another way, in the area of automation solutions, there exists a need for a simple, intuitive, easily installed and inexpensive way to create and maintain schedules for the performance of desired functions and actions by a wide variety of devices and equipment.